Combination beverage display and refrigerating unit



COMBINATION BEVERAGE DISPLAY AND REFRIGERATING' UNIT Fi-led May 6, 1949 ('7 2 21 15 INVENTOR.

Mgrrzs fi-l'ertt W2, dag/Wow fitter-neg Patented June 5, 1951 COMBINATION BEVERAGE DISPLAY AND REFRIGEBATIN G UNIT Morris Stern, Indiana, Pa. Appl c t n MM 6, ,.Serial No- 91,822

This invention relates to a beverage display and refrigeration unit and more particularly to a simple, self-contained device, which is readily adaptable to any location, requiring no installation Work other than setting same in the desired location and then plugging the electrical connection into a convenient electrical outlet.

An object of my invention is the provision of an improved display unit which is practical in construction, easy to obtainaccess to and exceedingly light in relation to similar units now in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby each beverage container is placed in an individual receptacle, surrounded by a refrigerating coil supplied with a cooling medium from a centrally located condensing unit.

Further, an advantage of my improvement lies in the extreme simplicity of arrangement of the above-mentioned coils in relation to each other and to the condensing unit itself. By my arrangement all the beverage containers will receive an equal amount of refrigeration, and since the coils are in close contact therewith a positive amount of cooling will be supplied to each receptacle.

A still further object lies in the provision of a condensation collecting means or sluice-way to receive the droplets from each receptacle and its associated cooling means and to relay same to a central drip pan means.

Still other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my display and refrigerating unit.

Figure 2 is a side elevation taken with the side removed and showing the relation of the various parts of the device.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross section taken on one of the receptacles and showing the particular wall structure of the device.

Similar reference characters represent similar parts in the several figures.

Refrigerated display counters in use at the present time take on several forms. In one type of structure the article to be refrigerated is set on a semi-enclosed shelf open to the outside air. Means are provided whereby a cool air circulating system lowers the temperature of the article. This type of unit is subject to constant loss of cool air to the outside surroundings, thereby necessitating a large cooling plant which makes the display case larger and heavier, and the cooling plant more expensive to operate.

1 Claim. 6289.5)

Anp e a m f ref i erat d disp a ca e uti- 'z a p urality of arge encl se fri e ated containers, each container adapted to receive a p ura i o a tic es merc a e; W h suc an arrangement a great amount of the OQling m diu i used up in coo in the. p c n the con mine not sed fo article t be re ri rated A an improv ent ove refrigerating n t eretofore resent dl have e s a t uc ure hi h is a portab e lf-c nt i e unit easily s alled, a d r dily acc ss ble t r pa a h c has a simple veffective way of distributingthe coolns medium i "b v a n n r p cles- Also providedis an eificient means for taking away condensation formed on the cooling medium distributing means,

In the drawings, the display case is generally designated by the numeral III and comprises a housing having a tiered, step-like front and top portion with risers II andhorizontal members I2, respectively, side panels I3; and aback portion I4. A bottom I5 is provided upon which is mounted a refrigerating unit, generally desi nated as I6.

Also mounted on the bottom are rubber feet I! to prevent marring of the surface upon which the unit is placed and to further prevent accidental movement of the display case. The back enclosing portion I4 is cut from hardware cloth which is of heavy wire mesh providing ample ventilation for the condensing unit IS. The other enclosing panels are of two-part construction, as best shown in Fig. 3, the outer part 21 being of a suitable plastic material and the inner part 28 being of galvanized sheet metal. Such a con; struction provides sufiicient body to support considerable weight and at the same time increases the aesthetic quality of the unit. Any suitable form of chrome trim 29 may be used at the seam formed by the meeting of said enclosing portions to enhance the attractiveness of this commercial display case. The side panels I3 are provided with louvres I8 to afford cross ventilation for the condensing unit IS.

The horizontal shelf-like members I2 are provided with a series of cup-like receptacles is depending below the surface thereof, and in which the bottles to be cooled and displayed are positioned.

The condensing unit I6 may be of any suitable construction largely depending on the size and number of receptacles I9 to be used.

The tubing 20 which carries the refrigerating medium is preferably of a soft pliable threeeighths inch copper stock. For purposes of clarity in illustrating the coiling of the tubing around the receptacles and its connection to the condensing unit, Fig. 2 shows the circulation for a unit with a single receptacle for each tier. It is to be understood, however, that for a unit having a plurality of receptacles in each tier, the tubing would be successively coiled around each receptaclein the same tier and thence to the other tiers. The section of: tubing adjacent the lower receptacle coil nearest the condensing unit is provided with a V-shaped portion 2|, the purpose of this construction being to prevent any condensate from being carried along the coil to the condensing unit.

Beneath the coils and receptacles there is provided a galvanized sheet metal condensation relowered from room temperature to 36 F. within ceiving means or sluice-Way 22 "which is adapted pan 23 is of the sliding drawer type and has a.

hand knob 26 on the outside thereof to facilitate removal from the case. i

An aperture 24 is formed in the lower end of the sluice-way 2 2 to allow condensation to flow therefrom and also to allow the tubing to extend therethrough on its return to the condensing unit. The U-shaped portion 2| is formed immediately below the aperture 24 so that it will form a dropping point for condensation on the tubing. As-previously set forth, this prevents the droplets from rising to the end portion 25 of the tube which returns the cooling medium to the condensing unit I6.

As best seen in Figures 2 and 3 the space surrounding the receptacles and their coils contains an insulation medium 30 of spun glass. As will be apparent this insulation aroundthe coils and receptacles gives almost one-hundred percent of the refrigerating capacity of the unit to the coolingof beverages and very little is lost in the twenty minutes. From this it can be seen that I have produced a device which is a decided improvementover commercial display cases heretofore devised, which required more time and larger condensing units.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that variation in details of form may be made without departure from the invention as defined in the appended claim. I claim:

A cooling and display stand comprising a tiered structure having a plurality of vertically spaced surface levels, said surface levels having a plurality of openings formed therein, sleeve-like means located beneath each of said openings for supporting bottles therein, said means containing apertures in the lower end thereof, a coil surrounding each of the bottle supporting means and connected in series, a condensing unit positioned within the case and connected to each of said coils, an inclined sluice-way located betransmission of the cooling medium from re- I densation to drain from the receptacle. Also provided is an apertured rubber disc 33 to be cemented in the bottom of said unit to prevent beverage containers from being broken when placed thereon.

From the foregoing description of my present invention it will be seen that the structural feaneath said bottle supporting means to receive condensate therefrom and to deliver same to a receiving pan, positioned at the lower end thereof, and insulating material in the space between the plurality of surface levels and the sluice-way,

said material being closely packed around said,

coils and sleeve-like bottle supporting means. MORRIS STERN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,471,581 Poissant May 31, 1949' 

